


Teddy Lupin, Head Boy

by thereluctanthufflepuff



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 10:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20834042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thereluctanthufflepuff/pseuds/thereluctanthufflepuff
Summary: Teddy Lupin always minded his own business, thank you very much. Until Victoire Weasley comes home from her summer abroad with a new boyfriend.





	Teddy Lupin, Head Boy

**September**

Teddy Lupin always minded his own business, thank you very much. 

Being an orphan raised by your grandmother and a revolving door of famous Aurors had forced the black-sometimes-blue haired boy to avoid asking too many questions. He studied, he played Quidditch and above all, he didn’t meddle in other people’s personal affairs. 

So when Victoire Weasley returned from a summer in France with a French boyfriend, Teddy expected to not care and go about his summer as he normally would have. 

Nope. 

When Victoire Weasley came back from France, she returned six inches taller with a deep tan that made her freckles stand out even more and approximately ten times as many curves than she’d left with. Seriously. 

She also returned with a French boyfriend. 

When Teddy saw Victoire Weasley at King’s Cross Station on the day that they were both returning to Hogwarts, hand-in-hand with her Jean Luc (poncy name) whose muscles were straining across his t-shirt, he instinctively thrust his chest out and strutted toward them. He hated himself for it. 

“Teddy,” Victoire had said, releasing Jean Luc’s French hand and reaching to hug Teddy. She wrapped her arms around him and he felt his body _ react _. He pulled away first. 

“Teddy, this is Jean Luc,” she said, stepping aside so the two boys could greet each other. “He’s my boyfriend. He goes to Beauxbatons, but he’ll be an exchange student at Hogwarts this term. Isn’t that great?” She kissed Jean Luc’s cheek. 

“Bonjour!” Jean Luc said, holding out his hand. Teddy didn’t take it.

When Teddy offered to help Victoire with her trunk, he was displeased to discover that Jean Luc had already done it. 

“Come sit with us when you’re done with Head Boy duty,” Victoire said, indicating a compartment. 

He nodded, but he had silently vowed to be as far away from that poncy Jean Luc as he could be while also being as close to Victoire as possible. 

This didn’t prove to be easy. 

At the start of year feast, Jean Luc sat with his arm around Victoire’s waist, periodically nuzzling her neck. Everyone else thought it was cute. Teddy thought he might vomit. 

**October**

As the school year officially got into swing, Teddy was more and more pleased to continue to run into Victoire, blonde and still very tan and curvy from her French summer with her French boyfriend. He was not pleased to continue to encounter Jean Luc. This caused for lots of confusing greetings when he saw them together. 

“What’s with you?” Roxanne asked Teddy as he walked down to the Quidditch pitch for practice. Earlier, Teddy had docked points from his cousin, Albus Potter, for talking too loudly in the hallway. “You’re acting like the impression we do of you behind your back.”

“Nothing,” Teddy grunted. 

As he arrived on the Quidditch pitch, Teddy noticed Victoire sitting in the stands, looking up. He followed her gaze and saw French, tan, muscular Jean Luc on a broomstick, doing loop-de-loops. Victoire was laughing, her twittering giggle carrying across the Quidditch pitch. To Teddy, it sounded like music. _ That’s odd, _ he thought. _ It used to be annoying. _

“Oh _ my,” _ a voice behind him said. Alice Longbottom clutched her broomstick weakly, leaning against it, her eyes fixed on Jean Luc, who was now juggling on his broomstick with three Quaffles. 

“I don’t see why he has to fly shirtless,” Teddy grumbled to his teammates. “It’s bloody cold out there.”

“It gets, erm, hot,” whispered Anna Midgen. “On the broom, you see.”

“Bloody ridiculous,” Teddy said, shaking his head. He watched Jean Luc execute a perfect landing, and then saw a banner of blonde hair racing across the pitch, launching herself onto the shirtless Frenchman and snogging him forcefully.

Teddy knew he had to do something. 

**November**

Teddy was looking for Victoire. 

“Any of you seen Victoire?” he asked Albus and Scorpius, who were looking guilty in the library.

“She was with Jean Luc the last we saw her,” Albus said, holding his hands behind his back. 

“Why is she always with that pretentious git?”

“He _ is _ her boyfriend,” Scorpius pointed out. 

“Nobody asked you, Malfoy!” Teddy said. Then, “I know you’ve got a Dungbomb behind your back. Just wait to set it off after I leave.”

“Wicked!” Albus whispered. “Thanks, Ted!”

As Teddy left the library, he heard a series of pops followed by screams. Students raced past him, shrieking with their arms over their heads. He ignored them all, still searching for Victoire, when he ran right into Annie Macmillan, a fifth year Hufflepuff whose family was friendly with his family. 

“Oh!” she exclaimed, blushing. “Hi Teddy. How are y--”

“Have you seen Victoire?” 

Annie’s face fell. “I think she was, erm, in the Common Room the last time I saw her.” 

“Oh, thanks,” he said, leaving Annie in his wake. 

He found Victoire in the Hufflepuff Common Room, curled on a chair reading a book titled _ What To Do When He Won’t Notice You. _

“Hey," he said, plopping down in the chair next to her. 

“Hi, Teddy,” she said, putting her book down and looking at him as he sat down. 

“Vic,” he said, trying as hard as he could to focus on her face and not, for example, how low her blouse dipped. “I’m pretty sure I just saw Jean Luc try to hit on Roxanne.”

“Roxanneis twelve, Teddy,” Victoire laughed, rolling her eyes. “He was probably just trying to help her with something.”

“Even more reason to be alarmed, a fellow that age trying to flirt with your twelve year-old cousin--how old is he, anyway? Thirty? Thirty five?”

“You know he’s fifteen like me.”

“_ He looks bloody ancient,” _Teddy muttered. 

“What?”

“Nothing.”

He rose to leave.

“Hey, Teddy?” Victoire had stood up now. She was almost as tall as him now. She stood so close that he could smell her, a scent like roses and coconut and pine and brown sugar. He swallowed mightily. “Um, could I borrow your owl? I wanted to owl mum and dad and tell them I’m staying here for the Christmas holidays.”

Teddy looked alarmed. “Why are you staying here?”

“Erm, well, Jean Luc is staying and I’m going to stay with him,” she murmured, having the courtesy to blush. 

“Oh, right,” Teddy said. “I’m staying, too.”

“Oh,” she said with surprise. “Why?”

“Er...to study for the N.E.W.T’s.”

_ More like to keep an eye on the six pack having, snog-giving, shirtlessly flying, trunk-lifting French git. _

**December**

Hogwarts at Christmastime was _ romantic. _

The twelve huge Christmas trees covered in soft twinkling lights. The suits of armor softly humming carols in the hallways. The lake, frozen over, with magicked candles hovering over it for the ice skaters. The coziness of the Hufflepuff Common Room, with its roaring fire and garlands of holly and mistletoe. Everything seemed to scream “Romance!”

It. Was. Annoying. 

Everywhere Teddy turned, people were snogging. Never had this many people stayed at Hogwarts over the holidays solely for the purpose of snogging. In fact, it seemed like the Head Boy was the only student in the entire school who wasn’t snogging anyone. _ Not for a lack of trying _, he thought as he chased away two fourth years who were snogging behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy. “And don’t let me find you here again!” he shouted after them as they ran from him, both of them giggling. 

The only other person who seemed not to be snogging someone was Annie Macmillan, who kept turning up when Teddy was doing his Head Boy rounds. The pink cheeked girl seemed to pop up whenever Teddy was in the process of expelling amorous students from dark corners. 

“Hi, Teddy!”

“What the--” He whirled around. “Where did you come from?”

“Oh, I was just...walking by,” she said, blushing again. _ Why was she always bloody blushing? _“What are you doing this Hogsmeade weekend?”

“Huh?” he asked absentmindedly. “Oh, er, I dunno yet. What about you?”

“Well, I was wondering if--”

But at that moment, Teddy watched as Reece Davies stumbled out from behind the statue of the pig dressed as a nun, his arms around Susanna Pallicer, both snogging forcefully. 

“Hey!” Teddy called, and the two sixth years broke apart, surprised to find themselves in daylight.

The worst was when he found Victoire and Jean Luc snogging in the library. He was searching for a N.E.W.T.s level book for Transfiguration when he heard a small laugh. Peering around the shelf, he found himself horrified as he watched as Jean Luc kissed Victoire, his hands in places Teddy hadn’t even dreamed about. 

“Oi!” he called. “No snogging in the library!”

The two blondes sprang apart, and a crimson tint crept up Victoire’s face. “Sorry, Teddy!” she said, smoothing her hair down and moving her hands to tuck her shirt back into her skirt. “Didn’t see you there.”

“You were ‘iding,” Jean Luc said, frowning. “Spying on us.”

“Don’t be silly, Jean Luc,” Victoire said. “Teddy was here studying. Weren’t you, Teddy?”

“Yes,” Teddy said rudely. “And I can’t focus if people are snogging all over the bloody place.”

“We’ll leave so you can study,” Victoire said shortly, smiling at Teddy and leaving with _ him _. 

“A bit of keesing would not ‘urt ‘im,” Teddy heard Jean Luc mutter as they exited the library. 

**

On Christmas Day, Teddy found nearly all the students who remained at school exchanging gifts down in the Great Hall. He was looking for one specific person, and he found her. He carefully pulled the small wrapped package out of his robe pocket and headed down to the table where Victoire was seated with her best friend, Bianca. 

“Happy Christmas, Teddy!” Victoire said, putting her arm around him and giving him a hug.

“Er, I got you something,” he said, awkwardly setting the gift on the table in front of her. 

Her eyes became round, and Bianca urged her to open the gift. She did. Underneath the glittering gold wrapping paper, there was a soft-covered journal with a brand new ink pen. 

“The ink never runs out,” Teddy said proudly. 

“Oh, _ Teddy!” _she cried, throwing her arms around Teddy again. He closed his eyes to inhale her rose-pine-coconut-sugary scent, and when he opened his eyes, Bianca was smirking at him. “But I haven’t got anything for you!”

He shrugged. “That’s ok. I just saw the notebook and remembered you saying that you needed a new one.”

“Thank y--” But she was interrupted by a blonde something. Jean Luc, not the brightest exchange student Hogwarts had ever had, had found his way to the Hufflepuff table. He kissed Victoire passionately, and Teddy stared incredulously. Under the table, he felt a kick. Bianca mouthed, _ Jealous? _ And gave him a devilish smirk.

“My love,” Jean Luc said when they finally came up for air. “Joyeux Noel!” He produced a long, velvet box. Teddy’s stomach dropped. Bianca’s smile became wider as she stared at Teddy with relish, apparently enjoying this moment. 

“Happy Christmas, Jean Luc,” Victoire said, letting out her musical laugh. “Thank you, darling.” She opened the box and gasped. Nestled inside was a fine gold chain with a huge, clear crystal pendant. 

“Is that a--_ diamond?” _ A Hufflepuff girl had made her way over to them. Teddy didn’t know her, and wanted her to go away. In fact, he found himself wishing that he would explode so he couldn’t feel mortified. _ A notebook? _

Jean Luc nodded, looking pleased with himself. He threw out his muscled chest and beamed at Victoire. “Eet eez a real diamond,” he said. “My muzzer ‘elped me pick eet out for you, Victoire.” 

“Oh, darling!” Victoire said, pulling the chain on over her head and putting the necklace on. 

“I’ve just remembered something,” Teddy said aloud, but the small crowd gathering around Victoire ignored him and so did she. He got up and strode out of the Great Hall, fuming. What did that _ tosser _ think he was doing, outdoing Teddy in the gift-giving department? 

He began to storm up the steps when he heard a voice call his name. He spun around to see Bianca jogging up to him. “I know your secret,” she said in a sing-song voice.

“I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about, Killian,” Teddy said. 

“You _ like _ her!” Bianca crowed. “You _ like _Victoire Weasley!”

“Keep it down!”

Bianca looked around at the empty entrance hall, shrugging. “Tell you what,” Bianca said. “I want to help you.”

“_ Help _ me? With what?”

“With Victoire!” Bianca said. “Let’s face it--that French wanker has stolen my best friend! I want her back. All he wants to do is snog and...other stuff. She never shuts up about him!”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Teddy cried, covering his ears. Then he lowered his hands. “What _ kind _of other stuff?”

Bianca turned on her heel. “_ Men.” _

**January**

“Okay, lesson one,” Bianca said to Teddy, pointing at the blackboard. “Victoire likes bad boys.”

“She does?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t really think--”

“I’m her best friend, you pillock,” Bianca interrupted. “Don’t you think _ I _ would know what she likes?”

They had commandeered an empty classroom one bitterly cold evening. Teddy was holding a jar of small blue flames to keep himself warm. On the blackboard, Bianca had written, “Ways to be bad.”

“‘Smoking?’” Teddy read aloud. “Victoire doesn’t like smokers!”

“Have you ever asked her?”

Teddy shrugged. “I suppose not but…”

“Here,” Bianca said, and tossed Teddy a small carton of cigarettes. He caught them. 

“Where did you get Muggle cigarettes?”

“Never mind that,” Bianca replied. “Just remember to smoke them whenever Vic is around, alright?”

Teddy shook his head. “Fine.” 

“Next up,” Bianca said. “Your clothes are a bit of a problem.”

“What’s wrong with my jumper?” Teddy said, looking wounded. He looked down at his maroon jumper with a gigantic letter T on it.

“Gran Weasley’s jumper won’t do it for Vic,” Bianca said. “Wear these.” She tossed him a bag. From it, he pulled out a black leather jacket, an extremely small pair of jeans and an even smaller white t-shirt. 

“What the--”

“She’ll love those.”

“These pants won’t even fit me!” he sputtered, holding up the jeans. They really were unreasonably tiny.

“She likes tight pants,” Bianca said. Teddy thought about it for a moment. 

“Okay,” he said. “I suppose I can wear some tight pants.”

“Finally, and this is the most important part!” Bianca said, pointing at the blackboard. 

“‘Be an arse?’”

Bianca nodded fervently. “Bad boys are arseholes,” she replied. “And Vic likes bad boys, remember?”

“And Vic will like that?”

“Definitely.”

**

When Teddy saw Victoire the next day, she was in the library, blissfully alone. She was absorbed in a book titled _ Witches Are From Venus, Wizards Are From Uranus. _ He looked down at his outfit. The jeans were a bit _ too _ tight, but he had been able to yank them on with a few Enlargement Charms that morning. Still, he felt as though they might split at any moment so he took very tiny steps. 

“Hey Vic,” he said, leaning against a bookshelf. 

She looked up, surprised. Her eyes widened at the sight of him. “Oh, hi, Teddy” she said. “Um, are those new clothes?”

He ignored her comment and the unbearable tightness below his waist. He could scarcely breathe. 

“What’s up?”

She looked like she was stifling a laugh. “Nothing much,” she said. “Just reading to take a break from studying.”

“Reading to take a break from studying? When did you become a total nerd?”

“Um, right now, I guess,” she said, defensively grabbing the book and holding it to her chest. There was an uncomfortable silence.

“Fancy a smoke?” he finally asked, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out the box of cigarettes. He placed one between his lips, and with a wave of his wand, lit it. He took a huge inhale, and immediately begin coughing. 

“Since when have you _ smoked?” _ she asked, her mouth opening in surprise. 

“Since when do you _ care?” _

Her eyes narrowed and she spun around in her chair, grabbing her books. “I’m leaving,” she said shortly, starting to shove her books into her bag. 

He panicked. “What? Why?” He tried to move from where he was leaning, but his pants were too tight and he was filled with dread at the thought of trying to chase after her in the library.”

“Because you’re being a jerk!” she exclaimed, turning back towards him. “You’re acting so _ weird.” _

“No--wait--I didn’t mean--” And he moved forward toward her--and then watched, as if in slow motion, the button on his excruciatingly tight jeans part from its home on the trousers with a _ ping _ noise and launch itself directly into Victoire’s left eye with the force of a Bludger. 

Her cry of pain pierced the silence of the library as she clapped her hands over her eye, doubling over in pain. “Oh, _ fuck _,” she moaned, doubled over in pain. “Fuck fuck fuck!”

“Oh, Merlin!” Teddy said, reaching for her. 

“Don’t!” she cried, pushing her chair away from him. He stumbled back, watching in horror as a crowd of students gathered, watching as Victoire whimpered in pain, holding her eye. 

“What happening here?” Teddy heard Madam Pomfrey’s shrill voice break through the murmuring students. “What the--” She pushed past the students and approached Victoire. “What happened?”

“My eye,” Victoire gasped. “Look at my eye!” She removed the hands covering her left eye, and Teddy gasped. The eye was already swollen shut, the area around it purpling rapidly. 

Madam Pomfrey snapped at one of the students. “Miss Goldstein,” she said. “Please escort Miss Weasley to the Hospital Wing immediately.” Victoire left with a curly haired fourth year student. Madam Pomfrey rounded on Teddy, who was still holding a lit cigarette. 

“_ No smoking in the library!” _she shrieked. “Not even if you’re the Head Boy! Now get out!”

Teddy, terrified, dropped the cigarette and made to run, but found himself tangled at his ankles. The crowd of students suddenly started hooting with laughter. He looked down to find the tight jeans now puddled around his ankles. 

The Enlargement Charms had worked at last.

**February**

Victoire had to wear an eyepatch for a month. Teddy watched her morosely as she sat next to Jean Luc at the opposite end of the Hufflepuff table, eating dinner and laughing with her friends. Even with an eyepatch, she was still the prettiest girl in school. The Tight Jeans Debacle, as the whole school had taken to call it, had been the joke of Hogwarts for a few weeks until it was usurped by the Great Balding, an incident in a second year Charms class where the students had somehow all ended up hairless from their heads to their toes. 

A few days before Valentine’s Day, Teddy finally decided he needed advice from an adult. 

“Hey, Harry,” he intoned into the fire where Harry’s head sat, flames surrounding his face. 

“What’s up, Ted?” Harry asked. “What was the big emergency?”

“Er, it’s not really an emergency. It’s just…I like this girl.” 

Harry’s face broke into a grin. “I’ve been waiting for this day!” Harry crowed. “Well, who is it?” 

“I can’t say,” Teddy said, “but she has this boyfriend…”

“Well, you know, Ginny had a boyfriend when I first started fancying her!” 

“Yeah, but—“

“And she broke up with him to go out with me.” 

“I know, but—“

“And then we broke up and then I defeated Voldemort and we got back together.” Harry sighed in a reminiscent way, and Teddy could tell Harry was reliving fond memories. 

“Okay, but _ how _ do I get her to, y’know—see me as—like she sees _ him?” _

Harry looked thoughtful. “Y’know, women have always fancied _ me… _”

“_ Because you’re the Chosen One,” _Teddy muttered. 

“Pardon?”

“Nothing.” 

There was an awkward silence as Teddy wondered why he thought Harry would be any good at giving him romantic advice. 

“Listen, Ted,” Harry said. “Why don’t you just tell this girl how you feel?” 

“What if she doesn’t like me back?” he asked meekly. 

Harry looked somber. “Then you move on. But it’s almost Valentine’s Day—the best day to be honest about your feelings.” 

Teddy nodded, swallowing hard. “Okay,” he replied. “Okay. I will.” 

“Y’know, my second year, Ginny hired a--”

**

Valentine’s Day rolled around on a freezing cold day. Hogwarts students were casting Warming Charms in the corridors and Teddy couldn’t even discipline them for using magic in between classes. It really was _ that _cold. 

Teddy had spent the night before rehearsing his speech to Victoire with his best friend, Ryan. Ryan had been all too eager to play the part of Victoire, and he even did the voices. Teddy stopped the enactment right as Ryan was vying for a snog. 

“I’m not snogging you, mate,” Teddy had said, refusing Ryan’s increasingly sexy advances.

“Fine,” Ryan had replied, pouting. “Good luck tomorrow.”

Now Teddy stood nervously in the Entrance Hall, watching as Victoire walked down the stairs alone. With a start, he noted that her eye patch was gone, and that she looked extremely pretty in a soft navy blue dress, black stockings and brown boots. Her left eye looked blissfully unharmed and her hair shone in the torchlight, and for a moment, he forgot what he was about to do as he stared at her. 

He waved at her enthusiastically, and she waved back. He was relieved to see that she was smiling. Maybe she wasn’t holding the Tight Jeans Debacle against her. The entrance hall was filled with students, and all he needed was to get Victoire alone before she found that duffer Jean Luc. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Bianca and Ryan grinning maniacally. 

“Hey,” he called. “Hey, Vic!” She heard him. Her eyes piqued interest as she jogged down the stairs, looking at Teddy with intrigue. 

He walked toward her, pushing through the throng of students, eager to get her alone, to finally talk to her about how he’d been feeling since the start of school. _ Vic _ , he rehearsed in his head. _ I’ve known you for a long time. You’re my best friend, and I just wanted to tell you that-- _

He felt a small tap on his shoulder. 

“Ryan, mate, I’m a little--” he said impatiently, whirling around to find himself face to face with Annie Macmillan. 

“Hi, Teddy,” she said, red-cheeked. 

“Oh. Hi, Annie. Can you excuse me, I’m trying to--”

“I have something for you.” She held a small wooden box in her hands. Carved on top of the box was a heart, with T.L. + A.M. carved on it. 

“What--”

She opened the box, and music began emanating from the box. Very _ loud _ music. Time stopped as Teddy stared at the box Annie was holding where a two tiny figurines--a tiny one with turquoise hair and another one that looked like Annie--were dancing to the deafening music that filled the entrance hall. Teddy finally could hear the words. 

_ No New Year's Day to celebrate _

_ No chocolate covered candy hearts to give away _

_ No first of spring _

_ No song to sing _

_ In fact here's just another ordinary day _

He looked up in horror at Annie, who was now just a shade lighter than vermilion. Her eyes were round and hopeful. 

“Annie--” he started. 

“I love you, Teddy!” she cried, her eyes filling with tears.

“No, wait--don’t _ cry _!”

_ I just called to say I love you _

“I’ve loved you for so long,” she wailed. “Since that day you told me you liked my new earrings.”

“But that was--over a year ago!” he exclaimed. “How could you possibly…”

And then he looked around as the immortal words of Stevie Wonder thundered around them. The entire student body had stopped to watch Annie profess her love for Teddy Lupin. Everyone except Victoire, who was nowhere to be found. Teddy sputtered in exasperation as he looked around for her. 

_ And I mean it from the bottom of my heart _

“Look, Annie,” Teddy said finally, turning back around. “Can we go talk in private?”

The tears that had filled Annie’s eyes now spilled over as more students gathered to stare. 

“It--it’s fine,” Annie stammered. “I--knew--y--you wouldn’t feel the same way!” And with a sob, she dropped the wooden box and fled. 

“Come back!” Teddy called after Annie, but he was muffled by Stevie’s dulcet tones once more. He leaned down to pick up the box, aware of the hundreds of pairs of eyes fixed on him. The lid to the box snapped shut and the song ended abruptly on the word _ baby _. He stood up, red-faced and looked around. “What’re you staring at?” he shouted angrily. “Bugger off or I’ll give you all detentions.”

“Head Boy can’t give detentions!” someone called from the crowd. 

“_ Quiet, _Cecil, can’t you see he’s distressed?”

“I’m pretty sure the Head Boy _ can _give detentions,” someone else piped up. 

“He gave me a detention for snogging, the old jealous prat,” another voice countered. “Just because no one wants to snog _ him _…”

“Well, _ someone _wants to snog him, obviously!”

“QUIET!” roared Teddy and stomped up the stairs. 

**March**

As spring encroached on Hogwarts, Teddy and the other seventh year students spent increasingly more time in the library than ever before. The N.E.W.T. exams were coming up, and they were all studying with such renewed enthusiasm that Teddy quite forgot about his quest to win Victoire’s heart. 

The Stevie Wonder Incident had caused quite a stir in the corridors, and the school was divided into two separate camps. One side maintained that Teddy Lupin had behaved callously towards Annie Macmillan. The other side comprised of fifth and seventh years who absolutely didn’t care because they were totally overwhelmed with exam preparations. 

On the rare occasion that Teddy did find himself unexpectedly in Victoire’s presence, he made sure to simply enjoy her company instead of the endless pining and conniving he’d been doing. She was, after all, not just the prettiest girl in school, but the kindest and most clever and definitely the funniest and she had a great laugh and her hair was like flaxen silk and the smattering of freckles across her nose was maybe the cutest thing he’d ever seen and when she smiled, it was like the sun shone...wait, where was he going with this? 

One night, Teddy was poring over a large volume entitled _ Advanced Charms for Protection, Protest and Portability _when he was flanked by two short figures. He looked on either side of him to see Albus and Scorpius, both plopping down next to him. 

“Can’t you see I’m studying?” he muttered.

“Yes, but we have something interesting we want to tell you!” Scorpius piped up. His voice was _ extremely _squeaky for a Malfoy. 

“I don’t care.”

“You might care if you listened,” Albus said in an annoying sing-song voice. 

“Fine.” He looked at them appraisingly as they both grinned devilishly. “Well? Spit it out.”

“Guess who broke up.”

Teddy rolled his eyes. “Oh _ this _kind of thing isn’t worth me failing my N.E.W.T.s, lads.”

Scorpius let out a frustrated sputter, turning back toward Albus. “Is he _ always _ like this?”

“‘Fraid so,” Albus said somberly to Scorpius. “He’s a bit of a killjoy. Always has been. Dad says its terminal.” 

“Hey!” Teddy said indignantly. “You know I can still give you detention, right?

“Yeah, for two more months,” Albus said, shrugging. “Nevermind, Scorp, he doesn’t care.”

The two boys sloped off, and Teddy watched them go, feeling relieved that they hadn’t set off another Dungbomb. He turned back to his book. 

_ The Fidelius Charm can be performed within seconds if need be, though in practice, it is helpful to have a plan prior to performing. The Charm is distinctive in its wandwork, requiring immense concentration, a level of trust with the Secret Keeper that cannot be artificial, and a-- _

BANG! 

Teddy jumped, and then the smell hit him. The awful, awful smell that accompanied a Dungbomb. He heard more shrieks from the library, the rage-filled scream of Madam Pince, and he hiked the neck of his robes over his mouth and nose, slung his bag over his shoulder and ran, thinking that he should have given Albus and Scorpius a detention after all. 

**

When Teddy returned to the Hufflepuff common room, he promptly learned what Albus and Scorpius had been so shifty about in the library (other than their Dungbomb attack). Victoire was sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, flanked on either side by Bianca and another sixth year Hufflepuff, Habiba Nasri. They were talking to her in low tones. He caught Victoire’s eye as he walked in; her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. Her usually radiant face was blotchy. 

“What’s going on?” Teddy muttered to Ryan as he sat down at a small corner table. Ryan looked up from his pile of books. 

“I would have thought you’d be celebrating,” Ryan said in a low voice. “Haven’t you heard?” 

“Heard _ what?” _

_ “ _That idiot Frenchman was found snogging Adrianna Baldo in the third floor corridor.” 

Teddy’s stomach dropped. That’s why Victoire was crying. That’s why a hush had fallen over the normally boisterous Hufflepuffs. 

“That prat,” Teddy muttered. “What’s he playing at?”

“I guess there was a big confrontation, and he called Weasley a…” Ryan had the courtesy to look abashed. He blushed, looking down at his hands. 

“A _ what?” _

“A...not very nice word.”

He glanced over at Victoire as she leaned morosely against Habiba, looking near tears. 

“_ What did he call her?” _he said through gritted teeth. 

Ryan hesitated. “He called her a...cocktease.”

Teddy goggled at Ryan. “_ Why? _” he breathed. 

“I guess he was pressuring her to...you know!” 

“And she refused?”

“Exactly.”

Teddy looked at Victoire, now weakly smiling with her friends, wiping her eyes with her sleeves. He smiled, too, because he now finally understood what he needed to do. 

**April**

Teddy suspected that getting over Victoire was going to be more difficult than he was ready to admit. But he was trying something new. He was going to be her friend. _ Really _be her friend. He was going to put away all the confusing, strange, uncomfortable and extremely pleasant feelings he had inadvertently developed for her and was going to channel all of them into being her friend. For the past few weeks, since her break up with Jean Luc, he joined Victoire for dinner on the evenings where he wasn’t studying or doing Head Boy duties. They studied together in the library. He walked with her to class, and he even joined her, Bianca and Habiba for a Hogsmeade weekend, listening to them jabber about Jean Luc and what a prat he was. 

“Hey!” she said, spotting him outside her Transfiguration class. She bounced over to him, a wide smile on her face. “You waited for me?” She looked a little confused as she pushed her hair back from her face, her clear blue eyes squinting up at him. He looked down at her, unable to not smile as he looked into her face. Her freckles stood out brightly across the bridge of her upturned nose, and he stared down at her, a dizzy smile on his lips.

“Teddy?”

“Oh, uh...what?” He shook his head. “Oh, I wasn’t just waiting here. I, er, came to see Professor Shafiq about my--”

“About your what, Mr. Lupin?” Professor Shafiq asked, sweeping from the classroom in vivid blue robes. 

“About my, uh--” Teddy gestured aimlessly. “...exams?”

“Five points from Hufflepuff for wasting my time, Mr. Lupin,” Professor Shafiq said airily, and swept past them. Victoire laughed. 

“Where are you going now?” Victoire asked, hoisting her bag on her shoulder. 

“Library.”

She groaned. “Come _ on! _You’re no fun. It’s Friday night--let’s hang out.”

He shook his head, trying not to look at her so he wouldn’t start staring again. “I wish I could,” he said. “But I really need to study. And then I’m on patrol tonight.”

She grinned. “Let me do patrol with you.”

“That’s against the rules.”

She raised one shoulder in an adorable shrug. “So?”

“So you could get in trouble for being out of bed after hours!”

“The only person who would know is you,” Victoire said. “I’m going to help Bianca with her Divination essay. See you tonight.” And she walked away. 

Teddy watched her go, and he didn’t even notice how short her skirt was. Because he was her friend and friends don’t notice that kind of thing.

**

They met in the Hufflepuff Common Room at midnight. 

“My first patrol!” Victoire whisper-exclaimed.

“And your bloody last one,” the Head Boy grumbled, stepping aside to let her exit the common room.

“I might be Head Girl next year, Teddy Lupin,” Victoire replied. “Don’t go counting your eggs.”

“Chickens.”

“Bless you!”

“No,” Teddy chuckled. “It’s ‘counting your chickens.’ Don’t go counting your chickens before they hatch.”

Victoire giggled, her cheeks reddening. _ She’s really cute when she’s blushing _ , he thought. _ But I can’t think things like that _.

“I’m terrible at Muggle expressions,” she replied, shrugging as they set off up a staircase that led to a suit of armor who was notorious for hiding students out of bed. 

“What do you do when you find someone out of bed?” Victoire asked. 

“Usually give them a telling off and walk them back to their dormitory.”

“Have _ you _ever snogged anyone after hours?” Victoire asked innocently. 

Teddy sputtered. “What? No! I’m _ Head Boy _.”

“Not even Annie Macmillan?” She was choking back a laugh now.

“Oh, Merlin,” Teddy breathed. “Not _ this _again.”

“You really were quite rude to her, you know,” Victoire said soberly. “It was a nice gift! Who doesn’t love Stevie?”

“It’s ruined Stevie for me, to be quite honest,” Teddy replied. 

There was a silence as they strolled through the dark corridors. Finally, he cleared his throat.

“How are _ you _ doing? Y’know, after...everything.” 

She was quiet for a moment, but spoke in a soft voice. “I’m fine,” she said. He looked at her skeptically. “No really!” she insisted. “I really am fine.”

“That prat really messed up big time, eh?”

Victoire shrugged. “It’s not really a big deal,” she said quietly. “Anyway, he wasn’t really who--”

But she was interrupted by what could only be described as a long, loud fart. 

“What the--” And then suddenly, they were being pelted by small, slimy objects. 

“_ Flobberworms!” _Victoire screeched, throwing her arms up to protect herself as Peeves, the castle’s poltergeist, cackled above them. 

“Eeeeagghhhhh!” Teddy shouted, and together, they sprinted toward the Hufflepuff common room, away from Peeves, who continued to hurl flobberworms at them the rest of the way. 

As they skidded toward the Hufflepuff common room, Victoire made to tap the right barrel with her wand, but Teddy grabbed her elbow and turned her around. 

There stood Professor McGonagall, looking very cross indeed. 

**May**

“I can’t believe I’m in detention on my bloody birthday,” Victoire muttered as Teddy wiped down Professor Trelawney’s extensive collection of crystal balls. 

After his out-of-bounds nighttime patrol, both the Head Boy and Victoire had received a month’s worth of detentions and a stern telling off from Professor McGonagall, reminding him that “you are not The Chosen One, Mr. Lupin,” and “I have half a mind to owl your grandmother.”

“I’m going to fail my N.E.W.T.s,” Teddy said gloomily, running a rag over the umpteenth crystal ball. He was being careful to drop Professor Trelawney’s precious items--she had already squawked at them earlier when Teddy had broken a dented old tea saucer. “Between this and Head Boy duties, I haven’t got any studying done.”

“It’s my fault,” Victoire replied. “If I hadn’t insisted--”

“There go those Head Girl aspirations of yours.”

“Oh, no!” Victoire said sarcastically, polishing a chipped porcelain teacup. “Whatever will I do if I’m not a big, dumb prat walking around the school alone at night? However will I live without chasing snogging third years out of dark corners?”

“I’m not a prat!” Teddy looked wounded. 

“That’s what you took away from that, huh? Interesting.” A pause. “Look, we’re having a little celebration for my birthday tonight, in the Room of Requirement.”

Another pause. “Cool. Have fun.”

“I know it’s...y’know...the Battle of Hogwarts anniversary, but...do you want to come? Have some butterbeer? Eat some cake?” 

Teddy, of course, knew about this celebration because Bianca had told him weeks earlier. “It’s your shot,” Bianca had said. “Make it happen!” 

“Er, sure,” Teddy said, feeling his heart swell as he took a rough swipe at another chipped porcelain teacup, which slipped from his fingers and shattered to the floor. 

“_ Enough!” _came Professor Trelawney’s shrill voice, and Teddy and Victoire ran down the ladder from her tower classroom, laughing the whole way. 

** _Later that night…_ **

Teddy straightened his tie as he stood outside the blank wall of the Room of Requirement. He was late to the party by nearly an hour, having spent the past sixty minutes changing his shirt and Metamorphing his hair into different colors. In the end, he put on a white shirt, a black tie he got from Harry last Christmas, and left his hair blue--it was Victoire’s favorite color. His palms were sweating now as he stood in front of the wall, and he wanted to make sure he looked nice for Victoire’s birthday. His _ friend _ Victoire’s birthday. 

He closed his eyes, thinking, _ I want to go to Victoire Weasley’s birthday party. _When he opened his eyes, he saw a small door had appeared in front of him through which he could hear a low thrum of music. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and stepped in. 

The room was packed, and had transformed itself into what looked like a small club. There was a stage where a band was playing, a dance floor filled with his classmates, a full bar stocked with magical beverages, and he was pretty sure that was a goblin bartender. 

“Oi--Ted!” Ryan called out to him. Teddy made his way through the crush of people, approaching Ryan right as he took a shot of firewhiskey. 

“How long have you been drinking, mate?” Teddy asked his friend, who was looking worse for wear and had a definite greenish tinge to him. 

“Since this party started,” Ryan muttered, slinging an arm around Teddy’s shoulder and leaning heavily into him. 

“This party only started an hour ago,” Teddy said, trying to maintain his balance as Ryan clung to him tighter and tighter. “Alright, mate, let’s, er, get you some water and find a place to sit down.” 

Teddy’s eyes scanned the small room, and he spotted a low sofa in a corner that was mercifully empty. He half-walked, half-dragged Ryan through the jostling crowd, ignoring Ryan’s protests. He was barely listening to Ryan’s incoherent mumbling (“I love you”) because he was looking for Victoire. Her distinctive banner of white blonde hair was nowhere to be found, however, and after dropping Ryan off on the sofa, he made his way to the bar, still surveying the bobbing heads in the crowd. No Victoire to be found. 

“Water!” he said to the bartender, who was indeed a goblin. How had Victoire managed to swing this huge party under the noses of all the professors? 

“More drinky?” Ryan said earnestly as Teddy brought back the water glass to him

“Yes,” Teddy said, sitting heavily next to Ryan on the sofa. “A whole glass of gin for my best mate.”

Ryan took a few sips, lolling his head back and peering over at Teddy through drunken eyes. “Listen, Ted--”

Teddy interrupted him. “Have you see Vic? Did she not show up to her own party?”

“Nah,” Ryan replied, looking crestfallen. “She’s right there.” He pointed to a corner not far from the sofa, and Teddy looked over. There was Victoire...and attached to her mouth was that ugly French twat. Their arms were locked around one another, and they were snogging passionately. And Jean Luc was shirtless. Why was that tosser always bloody shirtless?! 

“Oi! Happy Birthday, Weasley!” Ryan shouted right as the band ended their song. His inebriated voice rang clear and loud, and everyone in the room turned and laughed. Victoire turned, too, and as soon as she spotted Ryan and Teddy, the smile fell from her face. She met Teddy’s eyes, her own blue eyes filled with regret. She began to move toward Teddy, but he had already stood up and was starting to push through the crowd toward the door. 

_ Of course she was going to go back to him _, Teddy thought bitterly as he got stuck between two students enthusiastically grinding on each other. He felt strangely detached from himself as he pushed the grinding students off of him, finally reaching the door and grabbing the doorknob. He made his way out into the silent, still corridor, and began jogging back down to the Hufflepuff Common Room. 

How could he have been so stupid? What did he, Teddy Lupin, have that Jean Luc didn’t? Nothing. Nothing at all. Victoire wouldn’t go out with someone she’d known since _ childhood _ . They’d taken _ baths _ together. She’d seen him quickly date and lose interest in loads of other girls. Plus, the incident with the leather trousers...He shook his head ashamedly, vowing to never take advice from Bianca again.

He was almost to the stack of barrels when he heard someone jogging behind him. 

“Teddy! Wait up!”

He whirled around to see Victoire jogging after him, her hair flying behind her like a white flag. She skidded to a halt in front of him, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. 

“_ Bloody--hell-- _ ” she gasped, clutching her side. “ _ Why--are--you--running?!” _

Teddy completely forgot that he was trying to be friend with Victoire, and only friends. “You seemed a little _ busy _,” he retorted.

“_ I--hang on--” _ She was still gasping for air after chasing him, and she put both hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. “I waited for you!” she said finally after she was able to speak. “I waited for you for over an hour!”

“I was getting ready!” Teddy said, indicating his shirt and tie. 

“And this is what you came up with?!”

Teddy glared at her, and she glared back. “I wanted to--make a good impression.”

“If you haven’t noticed, you’ve already made an impression with me,” Victoire shouted, waving her arms around. She really looked like a lunatic. A very pretty lunatic. 

“If you’re talking about the leather trousers, that was an accident! I didn’t mean to make you wear an eyepatch, but even then you were still extremely cute--”

“I’m not!” she replied. “I’m talking about--” At this, she paused, biting her lip. “I--_ like _ you.”

Teddy gaped. “What? You...what?”

“Oh, Merlin, don’t make me say it again! I like you, you absolute wanker.”

“But--but--the French git--” Teddy stuttered. 

“I’m doing a month of detentions for you. I come to Quidditch practice to see _ you _ . I’ve been reading self-help books to get you to notice me,” Victoire said. “Jean Luc--he was a distraction. It’s _ you _ I fancy, not him!”

“But you were snogging him!”

“Because I thought you had skived off my party,” Victoire replied, stepping closer to Teddy. “But I only want to snog you.” She touched his hand gently, waiting for a reply. 

“Well--” Teddy replied, stunned. “Well--alright then.”

She smiled at him, and he smiled back as he looped his arm around her waist. He looked down at her, now fully grinning. “Did you mention snogging in there somewhere?”

Victoire nodded, throwing an arm around his neck and pulling him down toward her. “Let’s go find my eyepatch, shall we?” 

**Fin. **

  



End file.
